Serious Fraud Office boosted by jailing of Libor scam trader as Theresa May tries to revive plan to abolish it

Guilty: The jailing of Libor scam trader Tom Hayes is an important victory for the Serious Fraud Office

The Serious Fraud Office has been handed a lifeline after a jury convicted former UBS trader Tom Hayes of rigging Libor interest rates.

Hayes (pictured) has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

He is the first person found guilty of fraudulently rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate, known as the Libor.

The verdict opens the door to more prosecutions across the City, which could take years to bring to trial.

It will be a relief for the SFO at a time when Home Secretary Theresa May is trying to revive plans to abolish it and fold its responsibilities into a larger National Crime Agency.

The unanimous verdict, and Hayes’s conviction on all eight charges for conspiracy to defraud, will be seen as a significant win for the agency.

Hayes, 35, a former employee of UBS and Citigroup, denied eight counts of conspiracy to defraud, covering a period from 2006 to 2010.

SFO director David Green said: ‘The verdicts underline the point that bankers are subject to the same standards of honesty as the rest of us.

'This brings to an end one strand of the SFO’s continuing Libor investigation.

'Another 12 individuals await their trial, of which one has pleaded guilty.’

The severity of the 14-year sentence will send a shiver across the City.

The trial of some of Hayes’s alleged co-conspirators begins on September 21. A further trial of traders charged with the manipulation of US Dollar Libor begins next January.

Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury Committee and former chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, said: ‘Libor rigging was only possible because banks’ senior management turned a blind eye to the culture of the trading floor... in future, ignorance can no longer be an exoneration.’